1882 USA trade card for Domestic sewing machines (Black Americana)

$20.00 CAD

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Image of an African-American family in a horse-drawn cart passing a roadside sign advertising ‘Domestic’ sewing machines

‘It Stands at the Head’
Copyrighted by the “Domestic” Sewing Machine Co.
The Star that Leads Them All
The Light Running
“DOMESTIC" SEWING MACHINE

At bottom: “W.J. MORGAN & CO. LITH., CLEVELAND, O. COPYRIGHT 1882

On back:

Christmas Cards!
Bently Bros, Baltimore
Macramé threads…
Domestic Fashion Parlors, 1111 Chestnut Street Philadelphia.

8.5 x 12 cm // 3 ⅜” x 4 ½”

Corner crease UR. Browning on back.

 

The very first Domestic machine was produced by William A. Mack in conjunction with one N. S. C. Perkins who built a small factory at Norwalk, Ohio, and where a small number of machines were produced until 1869 when the term Domestic was added to the company's title.

At this time Stephen A Davis was taken on the company's payroll and he was set to re-design the machine and move the company's headquarters to New York, which was already the hub of American trade.Like many other sewing-machine men of the period, Davis came from gun work and brought many of the principles of interchangeable parts into the Domestic factory.

Right from the start the Domestic took a first grip on the market, producing 10,000 machines in 1871, and quadrupled that number a year later. The company secured a niche as producers of good-quality, light-running models and, although never seriously rivaling Singer, stayed independent in business until 1924.

http://ismacs.net/domestic/